charlesfitz, the answer isn't so easy it is actually yes and no. We do design them, and often very well (dams not so much) with the aid of many other consultants, engineers included. Fresh out of school, i can see you designing a factory of a general nature, but likely with oversight from a senior architect. Hope that helps

It takes a municipality that values design.

A girlfriend of mine (an architect) worked for a while in one of the most famous engineering firms in the world, in their architectural division. I believe she described her group as a sort of liaison between the architectural drawings / design intent with the true structural engineers doing the number crunching. It sounds like it was an extremely rewarding and interesting experience for her. I believe at the time they were working on building of Richard Rogers', Norman Fosters', etc, some very high-design projects.

She holds two degrees however, an undergrad in engineering and a grad in architecture. I believe that would help your case a great deal although nothing is impossible.

Also, I believe archinect member Synergy is a structural engineer; might be worth emailing him.

I recall in high school once telling my friends how much I loved looking at the Tempe electricity generating plant when I would drive past it at night: all those little lights and bizarre industrial shapes and catwalks and towers. I knew already I wanted to be an architect.

But I made the mistake of starting my comment by saying "I love that one plant down in Tempe..." to which my stoner friends all started laughing and saying I was in love with a particular piece of vegetation.

I'd still love to do some infrastructure work.

I know architects are regularly involved in these types of projects, but don't specifically know how to get into the field. An Architects understanding of proportions and aesthetics is an invaluable addition to any project, not to mention the behind the scenes stuff like project management.

If I were you, I would start by looking up some of your favorite projects and with a little investigation you can probably find out which architecture firms were involved. If you apply to those firms you'll have a good chance of getting into this kind of work, and as an added bonus, firms typically like hiring employees who have a specific and earnest interest in the type of work they specialize in, so hopefully you'll have a good chance of being hired.

thanks for the advice synergy.

have you been able to design anything like that at all liberty bell? are there any particular things that have gotten in your way? i was pretty much in the exact same position as you when i applied to arch school. looking at the massive size of a bridge and the complex interior of a power plant, i knew that I wanted to take part in designing such structures.

unfortunately, the whole reality of the profession hit me after my first year. so now, i have no idea if i should realistically expect a designing job after college instead of the dreaded position of a CAD-monkey.

marte.marte, Frödischbrücke





hermann kaufmann, Brücke Gaissau

foster recently finished one... check the extreme engineering thread started back a few weeks ago.